Enhanced Paging Mechanism for Machine Type Communication

ABSTRACT

Enhanced paging mechanisms are proposed for Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices in 3GPP networks. First, adaptive paging is proposed to adaptively allocate extra paging occasions for MTC devices with no extra procedure or power consumption on normal UEs. Second, group paging is proposed to simultaneously page a plurality of MTC devices with one paging. Group paging is controlled in different levels for optimized signaling and easier management. In one embodiment, group broadcasting and group release are used. Third, paging with response policy is proposed to pre-define or dynamically configure paging response policies for MTC devices.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/506,463, entitled “Enhanced PagingMechanism for Machine Type Communication”, filed on Jul. 11, 2011; thesubject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to Machine typecommunications, and, more particularly, to enhanced paging mechanismsfor machine type communications in mobile networks.

BACKGROUND

Machine type communication is a form of data communication that involvesone or more entities that do not necessarily need human interaction. Aservice optimized for machine type communication differs from a serviceoptimized for human-to-human (H2H) communication. Typically, machinetype communication services are different to current mobile networkcommunication services as they involve different market scenarios, puredata communication, lower cost and effort, and a potentially very largenumber of communicating terminals with little traffic per terminal.

The terms Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Machine-Type Communications (MTC)are used to describe use cases and illustrate the diversecharacteristics of machine type communication services. M2M and MTCdevices will be part of the next generation wireless networks to enable“internet of things”. Potential M2M and MTC applications includesecurity, tracking and tracing, payment, health, remotemaintenance/control, metering, and consumer devices. The maincharacteristics of machine type communication services include lowmobility, time controlled, delay tolerant, packet-switched only, smalldata transmissions, mobile originated only, infrequent mobileterminated, MTC monitoring, priority alarm, secure connection, locationspecific trigger, network provided destination for uplink data,infrequency transmission, and group based MTC features.

The end-to-end application between an MTC device and an MTC server orbetween two MTC devices is provided by 3GPP systems. A 3GPP mobilenetwork provides transport and communication services optimized for MTC.However, the number of M2M devices in the mobile network is expected tobe much larger than the current number of UEs, i.e., an order larger.With such vast number, the network could run out paging resources andincur extra delay. For example, with maxPageRec=16 and the maximumpaging subframe is four for a radio frame, the mobile network could page6,400 MTC devices in a second at most. Thus, a potential problem is thatthe current paging resource will not be enough for future MTC devices.

Currently, there are a few solutions for page overload in a 3GPP mobilenetwork. One solution is to prioritize paging on the S1 applicationprotocol (S1AP) to selectively discard pages at temporary overload.Another solution is to change paging configuration dynamically by systeminformation block (SIB) modification. Both solutions, however, may notwork well for MTC devices. This is because, for certain M2Mapplications, it may have very low duty cycle due to power savingconcern. For example, an MTC device only wakes up when it has uplink(UL) data or has much longer Discontinuous reception (DRX) in idle modethan currently allowed. In addition to DRX in idle mode, an MTC devicemay even have longer sleep cycle if the DRX value is not long enough forits operation. When paging occurrence (PO) happens, an MTC device doesthe following: wakes up before PO and checks system information (SI)value tag and obtains the latest SIBs; monitors Physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) for Paging-Radio Network Temporary Identifier(P-RNTI) for several DRX cycles; responds if there is a matching ID; andgoes back to sleep when time is up.

If paging overload happens, it takes several seconds for eNB toreconfigure the paging channel. After reconfiguration, it takes moretime to digest the congestion. Therefore, it is possible that eNB wouldnot be able to page an MTC device in time before it goes back to sleep.Then the delay would be minutes or even hours. Furthermore, if eNBdecides to reconfigure paging configuration after the overload isresolved, then a normal UE has to acquire the SIBs TWICE for no benefit.Thus, such paging overload event would degrade performance for normalUEs in idle mode.

SUMMARY

Enhanced paging mechanisms are proposed for Machine Type Communication(MTC) devices in 3GPP networks. First, adaptive paging is proposed toadaptively allocate extra paging occasions for MTC devices with no extraprocedure or power consumption on normal UEs. Second, group paging isproposed to simultaneously page a plurality of MTC devices with onepaging. Group paging is controlled in different levels for optimizedsignaling and easier management. In one embodiment, group broadcastingand group release are used. Third, paging with response policy isproposed to pre-define or dynamically configure paging response policiesfor MTC devices.

Under adaptive paging, extra paging occasions are adaptively allocated.In one embodiment, a “continue” flag is introduced in the pagingmessage. When the eNB cannot insert all the pages in the correspondingPO, it set the “continue” flag to be TRUE. Normal UE would ignore theflag and proceed as legacy behavior. For MTC devices, however, when theflag is set, instead of going to DRX until next PO, MTC devices would“continue” to monitor for PO if no paging has been received. Once theMTC device receives paging, it stops paging monitoring disrespect of theflag and responds to the paging.

Group paging is another mechanism to enhance paging performance for MTCdevices. M2M grouping can be useful in many levels. In AS level, a groupID can be configured for an M2M group. One paging can be used to pageall MTC devices in the group monitoring paging. Such M2M group can becontrolled by eNB to save AS resource. In NAS level, it makes sense thatM2M grouping can be done in the core network level, e.g., controlled byMME to save signaling overhead. In application level, M2M grouping canbe controlled by MTC user or MTC server for easier management. Thedifferent levels of M2M grouping can be independent or coexist toprovide flexibility. Group paging may be used for Group broadcasting. Insome MTC applications, e.g., OAM or software update, it is likely thatthe content of message would be the same for a group of MTC devices.Therefore, group broadcasting would be useful and save radio resource.

For M2M paging, when a device ID is included in paging message, it mayhave two possible meanings. In a first meaning, upon receiving thepaging, the paged MTC device must wake up and establish connection(Mobile Terminated MT session). In a second meaning, the network asksthe paged MTC device whether it would like to wake up to establishconnection (Mobile Originated MO session). Thus, a paging message shouldindicate whether the paged MTC device should respond immediately (MTsession) or should respond only based on availability of MO data (MOsession). In addition to indicate different paging responses, differentresponse policies can be configured to optimize paging performance. In afirst embodiment, paging response policy is pre-defined for the devices.In a second embodiment, paging response policy is dynamically assigned.

Other embodiments and advantages are described in the detaileddescription below. This summary does not purport to define theinvention. The invention is defined by the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, where like numerals indicate like components,illustrate embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a 3GPP network that supports enhanced paging forMachine-Type Communications (MTC) in accordance with one novel aspect.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an MTC device inaccordance with one novel aspect.

FIG. 3 illustrates enhanced paging mechanism for MTC devices inaccordance with one novel aspect in a mobile communication network.

FIG. 4 illustrates paging frame (PF) and paging occasion (PO) defined ina 3GPP network.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of adaptive paging design for MTCdevices.

FIG. 6 illustrates group paging in a 3GPP network.

FIG. 7 illustrates an RRC paging message that can be used for grouppaging.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of group paging using G-IMSI for grouppaging ID.

FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of group paging using G-S-TMSI forgroup paging ID.

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of group broadcasting using grouppaging mechanism.

FIG. 11 illustrates examples of paging associated with an MO session oran MT session.

FIG. 12 illustrates two alternatives of dynamically assigning pagingresponse policies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a 3GPP network 100 that supports enhanced paging forMachine-Type Communications (MTC) in accordance with one novel aspect.3GPP network 100 comprises an MTC server 111 that provides various MTCservices to an MTC user 112 by communicating with a plurality of MTCdevices (e.g., MTC device 114 as illustrated in FIG. 1). In the exampleof FIG. 1, MTC server 111, MTC user 112, and a packet data networkgateway (PDN GW) 113 belong to part of a core network 110. MTC device114 and its serving base station (eNB) 115 belong to part of a radioaccess network (RAN) 120. MTC server 111 communicates with MTC device114 through PDN GW 113, serving gateway (S-GW) 116, and eNB 115. Inaddition, a mobility management entity (MME) 117 communicates with eNB115, S-GW 116 and PDN GW 113 for mobility management of wireless accessdevices in 3GPP network 100. It is noted that, the term MTC is referredto as machine-to-machine (M2M) communication as compared tohuman-to-human (H2H) communication, while an MTC device is referred toas an M2M device as compared to H2H device.

In the example of FIG. 1, MTC server 111 provides various MTCservices/applications to MTC user 112 in application (APP) protocollayer through an established application-programming interface (API)140. Typical MTC applications include security (e.g., surveillancesystem), tracking and tracing (e.g., pay as you drive), payment (e.g.,vending and gaming machines), health (e.g., health persuasion system),remote maintenance/control, metering (e.g., smart grid), and consumerdevices (e.g., eBooks). To provide the end-to-end MTC services, MTCserver 111 communicates with the plurality of MTC devices in the 3GPPnetwork. Each MTC device (e.g. MTC device 114) comprises variousprotocol layer modules to support the end-to-end MTC applications anddata connections. In the application level, APP module 131 communicateswith MTC server 111 in APP protocol layer (e.g., depicted by dashed line141), which provides the end-to-end control/data. In the network level,NAS module 132 communicates with MME 117 in Non-Access Stratum (NAS)protocol layer (e.g., depicted by dashed line 142), which supportsmobility management and other signaling functionality. In the RAN level,RRC module 133 communicates with eNB 115 in Radio Resource Control (RRC)protocol layer (e.g., depicted by dashed line 143), which takes care ofbroadcast of system information, RRC connection control, paging, radioconfiguration control, QoS control, etc.

In mobile communication networks, paging is used to search for idle userequipments (UEs) and establish a signaling connection. Paging, forexample, is triggered by downlink packets arriving to the servinggateway (S-GW). When the S-GW receives a downlink packet destined for anidle UE, it does not have an eNB address to which it can send thepacket. The S-GW instead informs an MME that a downlink packet hasarrived. The MME knows in which tracking area (TA) the UE is roaming andit sends a paging request to all eNBs within the TA lists. Uponreception of the paging message, the UE responds to the MME and thebearers are activated so that the downlink packet may be forwarded tothe UE.

There are various paging procedures defined in 3GPP networks. For LTEcore network (CN), a paging procedure is used by the network to requestthe establishment of a NAS signaling connection to the UE. Anotherpurpose of the paging procedure is to prompt the UE to reattach ifnecessary because of a network failure. Additionally, the network canuse the paging procedure to initiate the mobile terminating CS fallbackprocedure. For LTE radio access network (RAN), paging is used totransmit paging information to a UE in RRC IDLE; to inform UEs in RRCIDLE or in RRC CONNECTED about a system information change; to informabout an ETWS primary notification and/or ETWS secondary notification;and/or to inform about a CMAS notification.

The number of M2M devices in the mobile network is expected to be muchlarger than the current number of UEs, i.e., an order larger. With suchvast number, the network could run out paging resources and incur extradelay. For example, with maxPageRec=16 and the maximum paging subframeis four for a radio frame, the mobile network could page 6,400 MTCdevices in a second at most. Thus, a potential problem is that thecurrent paging resource will not be enough for future MTC devices.Furthermore, for some M2M applications, it may have very low duty cycledue to power saving concern. Therefore, paging overload may causeunacceptable long delay to MTC devices if MTC paging is selectivelydiscarded due to its lower priority, or degrade power performance fornormal UE in idle mode if paging configuration is dynamically changed bysystem information (e.g., SIB) modification, because a normal UE has toacquire the SIBs TWICE.

In one novel aspect, enhanced paging mechanisms are used for MTC devicesin 3GPP networks. First, adaptive paging is proposed to adaptivelyallocate extra paging occasions for MTC devices with no extra procedureor power consumption on normal UEs. Second, group paging is proposed tosimultaneously page a plurality of MTC devices with one paging. Groupbroadcasting and group release are also proposed. Third, paging withresponse policy is proposed to pre-define or dynamically configurepaging response policies for MTC devices.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an MTC device 201 inaccordance with one novel aspect. MTC device 201 comprises memory 211, aprocessor 212, a radio frequency (RF) module 213 coupled to antenna 214,a baseband module 215, a 3GPP protocol stack module 226 supportingvarious protocol layers including NAS 225, RRC 224, PDCP/RLC 223, MAC222 and PHY 221, a TCP/IP protocol stack module 227, an applicationmodule 228, and a management module 230 including a paging managementmodule 231, and a connection management module 232. The various modulesare function modules and may be implemented by software, firmware,hardware, or any combination thereof. The function modules, whenexecuted by processor 212 (via program instructions contained in memory211), interwork with each other to allow MTC device 201 to performadaptive paging, group paging, group broadcasting, and/or paging withresponse policy accordingly. For example, the paging management module231 is responsible for monitoring paging occasions and responds topaging, while the connection management module 232 is responsible forsetup/release connections with the network.

FIG. 3 illustrates enhanced paging mechanisms for MTC devices inaccordance with one novel aspect in a mobile communication network. Inthe example of FIG. 3, a plurality of MTC devices (e.g., MTC device 310)communicate with MTC server 340 via eNB 320 and MME 330. In step 351,MTC server 340 initiates downlink packets to MTC device 310. In step352, MME 330 sends a paging request to eNB 320. In step 353, eNB 320sends an RRC paging message to MTC 310. Finally, in step 354, MTC 310receives the paging message and sends a paging response back to eNB 320.In a first novel aspect, MTC device 310 monitors paging occasionsadaptively based on a “continue flag” contained in the paging message.In a second novel aspect, MTC device 310 monitors a paging channel usinga group paging ID, which can be controlled in AS level, NAS level, orApplication level, independently or in any combination thereof. In athird novel aspect, MTC device 310 responds to paging message based on apre-defined or dynamically assigned paging policy.

FIG. 4 illustrates paging frame (PF) and paging occasion (PO) defined ina 3GPP network. A Paging Frame is one radio frame, which may contain oneor multiple Paging Occasions. PF is given by the following equation:

SFN mod T=(T/N)*(UE _(—) ID mod N)

where

-   -   T=min(T_(C), T_(UE)) : minimum DRX cycle between UE specific and        cell specific        -   Default DRX cycle is broadcast in system information        -   UE specific DRX is configured by upper layer    -   N=min (T, nB): number of paging frames in a paging cycle of the        UE        -   nB={4T, 2T, T, T/2, T/4, T/8, T/16, T/32} (SIB2, IE nB)    -   UE ID=IMSI mod 1024 (stored in USIM)

A Paging Occasion is a subframe where there may be Paging Radio NetworkTemporary Identifier (P-RNTI) transmitted on a Physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) addressing a paging message. As illustrated in table410, a paging message is used for paging and system information changenotification. The transport channel for paging is called a pagingchannel (PCH), and the logical channel for paging is called a pagingcontrol channel (PCCH). As illustrated in table 420 (for FDD) and table430 (for TDD), the index i_s pointing to PO from subframe pattern willbe derived from the following calculation:

i _(—) s=floor(UE _(—) ID/N) mod Ns

where

-   -   Ns=max(1, nB/T)=max(1, {4, 2, 1, ½, ¼, ⅛, 1/16, 1/32})=1, 2, or        4    -   i_s=floor(UE_ID/N) mod Ns=1, 2 or 4

While the PF and PO are predefined in the network, the number of MTCdevices to be paged, however, is not constant over time. In some cases,the number is much higher than current capacity. In general, if MTCpaging is considered second priority, then there is a chance that thenetwork is not able to insert the device ID in time at the PO fordevices due to insufficient paging space, which would cost significantdelay. It is unknown that how good that network could provision thepages. If the network cannot provide even paging load, and constantlydrop pages due to long delayed paging request, it may incur more pagerequest from core network due to “re-page”. Some unlucky MTC devices mayexperience page blackout indefinitely.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of adaptive paging design for MTCdevices. Normal UE only has to wake up one subframe (PO) per DRX cyclein idle mode. MTC devices typically apply the longest DRX cycle of theUE specific DRX value. In addition to DRX in idle mode, MTC device mayhave even longer sleep cycle if the DRX value is not long enough foroperation. An MTC device turns of its radio completely in sleep mode,and the MTC user or the network cannot reach/trigger/page the MTC devicein sleep mode. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the PO for an MTCdevice occurs at subframe #1 in paging cycle N, and subframe #2 in thenext paging cycle N+1. In each paging cycle, the MTC device monitors itsPO at goes to DRX until the next PO. For example, if the MTC device doesnot receive paging at subframe#1, then it goes to DRX until the next POat subframe #2.

Under adaptive paging, extra paging occasions are adaptively allocated.In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a “continue” flag is introduced in thepaging message. When the eNB cannot insert all the pages in thecorresponding PO, it set the “continue” flag to be TRUE. Normal UE wouldignore the flag and proceed as legacy behavior. For MTC devices,however, when the flag is set, instead of going to DRX until next P0,MTC devices would “continue” to monitor for PO if no paging has beenreceived. For example, the MTC device monitors the PDCCH in the next Npaging subframe, where N=1, 2, 3 . . . etc. It is possible to include Nalong with the flag or N is pre-defined. It is also possible toconfigure which group of MTC devices needs to monitor the additional PO(e.g., subframe #3). For example, MTC devices can be configured toignore the flag through dedicated signaling via RRC or NAS. The eNBcould also broadcast the MTC group that should continue monitoringpaging subframe. Once the MTC device receives paging, it stops pagingmonitoring disrespect of the flag and responds to the paging.

Group paging is another mechanism to enhance paging performance for MTCdevices. M2M grouping can be useful in many levels. In AS level, a groupID can be configured for an M2M group. One paging can be used to pageall MTC devices in the group monitoring paging. Such M2M group can becontrolled by eNB to save AS resource. In NAS level, it makes sense thatM2M grouping can be done in the core network level, e.g., controlled byMME to save signaling overhead. In application level, M2M grouping canbe controlled by MTC user or MTC server for easier management. Thedifferent levels of M2M grouping can be independent or coexist toprovide flexibility.

FIG. 6 illustrates group paging in a 3GPP network 600. Mobilecommunication network 600 comprises a MTC server 610, a packet datanetwork gateway (PDN GW) 620, a serving gateway S-GW 630, a mobilitymanagement entity MME 640, base stations eNB 641 and eNB 642, and alarge group of M2M devices 650. In the example of FIG. 6, due to devicemanagement, e.g., software update or periodic polling, MTC server 610needs every MTC device in the group to response. Without the support ofgroup paging, the signaling of page needs to be done one by one. Withthe support of group paging, MTC server 610 sets up an M2M group with agroup ID based on the M2M application for all the MTC devices 650. MTCserver 610 sends the group ID to MME 640, MME 640 then sends a pagerequest to connected eNB 641 and eNB 642 with the group ID, and eNB 641and eNB 642 inserts the group ID into paging messages. By supportinggroup paging, the signaling is optimized.

FIG. 7 illustrates one example of an RRC paging message 700. A pagingmessage contains a list of paging records. Each paging record contains aUE identity, which is a choice between International Mobile SubscriberIdentity (IMSI) and Serving Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity(S-TMSI). Various group IDs may be used for group paging. In a firstembodiment, group paging is done based on IMSI. In a second embodiment,group paging is done based on S-TMSI.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of group paging using G-IMSI for grouppaging ID. In additional to IMSI, each MTC device is configured with aGroup IMSI (G-IMSI). For each G-IMSI and IMSI, upper layer shouldindicate whether corresponding paging occasion should be followed ornot. In step 851, a group of MTC devices 810 subscribe to MTC servicesto MTC server 840. In step 852, MTC server 840 confirms to the MTCdevices with subscription information, which includes a group paging ID(G-IMSI). In this example, the paging group is pre-defined by the MTCserver and the stored in SIM (step 853) of each MTC device. MME 830maintains a TA list for the G-IMSI (step 854). In step 855, MME 830sends a paging request to concerned eNBs 820. In step 856, eNBs 820 sendpaging messages to the group of MTC devices 810. A new mechanism couldbe used for monitoring PO for G-IMSI, which is less frequency than IMSI(step 857). For example, a different paging cycle or nB is defined forG-IMSI. Finally, after matching the G-IMSI contained in the pagingmessage, MTC devices 810 send paging response back to eNBs 820 (step858). Typically, RRC connections are established and bearers areactivated for the MTC devices.

FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of group paging using G-S-TMSI forgroup paging ID. In addition to S-TMSI, each MTC device is configuredwith a Group S-TMSI (G-S-TMSI) upon attach to the network. In step 951,a group of MTC devices 910 establishes RRC connection with one or moreeNBs 920. In step 952, MME 930 sends a NAS signaling message to the MTCdevices. The NAS signaling message contains configuration informationthat configures a group paging ID (G-S-TMSI) for the MTC devices. Inthis example, the G-S-TMSI paging group is flexible and can be changedby NAS signaling. For example, MME 930 can configure the grouping basedon its own decision or information from a Home Subscriber Server (HSS).In step 953, MME 930 maintains a TA list for the G-S-TMSI. In step 954,MME930 sends a paging request to concerned eNBs 920. In step 955, eNBs920 send paging messages to the group of MTC devices 910. In step 956,MTC devices 910 monitors P0. The G-S-TMSI grouping does not changepaging monitoring. Finally, after matching the G-S-TMSI contained in thepaging message, MTC devices 910 send paging response back to eNBs 920(step 957). Typically, RRC connections are established and bearers areactivated for the MTC devices.

Other mechanism can be used to further enhance the grouping pagingsupport. For example, finer granularity or more flexibility may beprovided using additional rules sent along with the group paging ID. Inone embodiment, the paging rules may contain a “mask” or “wildcard” fora group of device IDs. For example, a question mark “?” can be used as awildcard for either 0 or 1. A group paging ID of “101011??” implies thatall devices having device IDs that are equal to “10101100”, “10101101”,“10101110”, or “10101111” are paged. In another embodiment, an operandis provided for group paging ID. To conduct complicated group pagingtasks, logical operands AND/OR/NOT, M2M categories and/or attributes,and MASKS can be used together to form a group paging rule. For example,one paging rule may be to page all MTC devices that has (priority=1) AND(category=smart meter), another paging rule may be to page all MTCdevices that belongs to (paging group=111100??) AND (attribute=periodicreporting).

The paging groups can be managed differently at different level. In afirst example, the entire Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) shares thesame paging group. Group X under one eNB or TA and group X under anothereNB or TA belongs to the same paging group X. In a second example, theentire TA shares the same paging group. Group Y under one TA and group Yunder another TA are different. Within the same TA, group Y′ under oneeNB and group Y′ under another eNB belong to the same paging group Y′.In a third example, the paging group is unique under certain eNB. GroupZ under one eNB and group Z under another eNB are different. The size ifa paging group can also be optimized. If a paging group is too large, itwould lead to high RACH collision probability, which result in longerdelay and more power consumption. On the other hand, if a paging groupis too small, then RACH resource is not sufficiently utilized. Whengroup paging is requested from PLMN or MTC server, instead of sendingthe complete UE identity (IMSI or S-TMSI), group identities (optionallywith operands and rules) are sent. Once configured with groupidentities, an MTC device monitors the paging for the group atcorresponding paging occasion and resource. It responds to the paging ifthere is a matching group identity or meets the rules combination.

Group paging may be used for Group broadcasting. In some MTCapplications, e.g., OAM or software update, it is likely that thecontent of message would be the same for a group of MTC devices.Therefore, group broadcasting would be useful and save radio resource.FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of group broadcasting in a 3GPPnetwork. In step 1051, MTC server 1040 sends a group ID to MME 1030 withoptionally indication of the purpose, e.g., group software update. Instep 1052, MME 1030 sends a paging request to one or more concerned eNB1020 with the group ID. In step 1053, eNB 1020 insert the group ID intopaging message and send the paging message to a group of MTC devices1010. The MTC devices monitor PO for the group ID (step 1054). Uponreceiving the paging message, the MTC devices 1010 establish RRCconnection with eNB 1020 (step 1055). A group RNTI (G-RNTI) is assignedduring connection setup or RRC reconfiguration. The MTC devices 1010also attach to MME 1030 and establish bearer to an S-GW (step 1056). Instep 1057, MME/S-GW sends the software update message using the Group IDto eNB 1020. The update message is for all MTC devices in the group.

In step 1058, eNB 1020 uses G-RNTI to broadcast the update message toall MTC devices in the group. The MTC devices in the group use theG-RNTI for PDCCH monitoring of the broadcast data (e.g., softwareupdate). If there is no HARQ, similar to BCCH (cell broadcast channel,e.g., a new SIB on BCCH), PHY mechanism is used to guarantee thesuccessful rate, e.g., repetition, TTI bundling. If HARQ is used, theneNB assumes the HARQ feedback is NACK until reach max HARQretransmission. MTC devices successfully receive the TB would sendnothing, MTC devices cannot decode the TB would send NACK, and eNB wouldretransmit if there is at least one NACK received. The NACK could bedone in MAC instead of PHY. In step 1059, MTC devices 1010 performsoftware update.

The group of attached MTC devices can be released using a group releasecommand (e.g., step 1060). For example, a signaling message as thebroadcast version of RRCConnectionRelease is used to indicate theapplied type of devices. When low priority devices see the message, theyperform RRC Connection Release to release resources. The message couldbe transmitted on a cell broadcasted channel (e.g., a new SIB on BCCH)to which only concerned MTC devices listen.

FIG. 11 illustrates examples of M2M paging associated with an MO sessionor an MT session. For M2M paging, when a device ID is included in pagingmessage, it may have two possible meanings. In a first meaning, uponreceiving the paging (step 1131), the paged MTC device must wake up andestablish connection (step 1132) (Mobile Terminated MT session). In asecond meaning, the network asks the paged MTC device whether it wouldlike to wake up to establish connection (Mobile Originated MO session).Once the MTC device receives the special paging (step 1133), it decideswhether it meets the condition and needs to reply with MO data (step1134). If the MTC device decides to reply MO data, then it has toinitiate connection establishment procedure, e.g., RACH preambletransmission (step 1135).

Polling MO from CN or MTC server is a flexible scheme to implementend-to-end load control if data traffic is predictable. The main benefitof paging based scheme for MO, e.g., as compared to predefined timescheduling scheme that can be controlled by BCCH, is flexibility. MOpaging could offload the traffic beforehand. For delay tolerantapplications, e.g. meter reading, it is also possible to completelydisable MO request and reply solely on MO paging to get data from MTCdevices. This could decrease the chance of RAN overload (e.g., RACHoverload) due to traffic burst created by badly coordinated MO sessions,e.g., different type of meter readings at the same time. In addition toMO, there is need for all MTC devices to support MT session, e.g., forOAM or software update purposes. Thus, a paging message should indicatewhether the paged MTC device should respond immediately (MT session) orshould respond only based on availability of MO data (MO session).

Indication of the different paging responses could be done in variousways. In a first example, a flag or configuration option field in pagingmessage, e.g., “MO Page” or ‘MT Page”. In a second example, differentP-RNTI may be used. In a third example, a special paging code or pagingID may be used. In a fourth example, the MTC devices may apply topre-configured paging opportunities (e.g., normal paging (MT page) issent in some paging opportunities and special paging (MO page) is sentin other paging opportunities).

In addition to indicate different paging responses, different responsepolicies can be configured to optimize paging performance. In a firstembodiment, paging response policy is pre-defined for the devices. Forexample, after receiving a paging message, a device may be configured tohave three response policies. For the first policy, the device mustconnect to network immediately. For the second policy, the device mustconnect to network, but it could be delayed in certain degree. Thispolicy can be combined with network entry congestion alleviationtechnique. For the third policy, the device may or may not connect tothe network, e.g., device only connect to network when there is buffereddata. The device may decide based on whether it has data to report ornot (and/or the priority of data to report). The device may also decidebased on the network load status.

In a second embodiment, paging response policy is dynamically assigned.The paging response policy may be defined in paging message (e.g.,information element or flag bit, probability information). Withprobability information, instead of polling many devices individually,paging can be done with group identity and a probability (randomizationis done at per UE basis). This is useful for certain usage, e.g.,collecting group statistics. For example, a device rolls a dice andcompare with the given probability to decide whether it would connectwith the network. The paging response policy may also be configuredbefore/when the device enters idle mode (e.g., deregister message orother signaling).

FIG. 12 illustrates two alternatives of dynamically assigning pagingresponse policies. In the example of FIG. 11, paging response policiesare contained in paging message. For example, loading-aware policyand/or differentiated access class policy can be carried via the pagingmessage. In a first alternative, within one paging message, each policyindicator is followed by a set of paging device IDs that applies thepolicy. For example, paging device ID1, ID2, ID3, and ID4 apply aresponse policy under policy indicator I, while paging device ID5, ID6,and ID7 apply another response policy under policy indicator II. In asecond alternative, within one paging message, each paging device ID isfollowed by a corresponding policy indicator. For example, each pagingdevice having ID1-ID4 is associated with policy indicator I, while eachpaging device having ID5-1D6 is associated with policy indicator II.

Although the present invention has been described in connection withcertain specific embodiments for instructional purposes, the presentinvention is not limited thereto. Accordingly, various modifications,adaptations, and combinations of various features of the describedembodiments can be practiced without departing from the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

1. A method comprising: receiving a paging message transmitted from abase station by a machine-to-machine (M2M) device in a mobilecommunication network, wherein the paging message indicates one ormultiple groups of M2M devices; determining whether to respond to thepaging message based on a paging matching rule and a paging responsepolicy; establishing a connection with the base station in the mobilecommunication network; and receiving a group broadcasting message fromthe base station, wherein the group broadcasting message contains agroup Radio Network Temporary Identifier (G-RNTI).
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving group identification (ID)configuration information by the M2M device, wherein the M2M device isconfigured with a group ID.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the groupID contains a group Serving Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity(G-S-TMSI) sent from a mobility management entity (MME).
 4. The methodof claim 2, wherein the group ID contains an M2M application IDcontrolled by an M2M server.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thematching rule contains a paging mask that indicates multiple M2M devicesor multiple M2M groups using a wildcard.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the matching rule contains a logical operand that applies to thegroup paging identifier and an M2M group category/attribute.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the paging response policy is explicitlycontained in the paging message.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thepaging response policy is implicitly carried via a paging RNTI, aspecial paging code/ID, or a pre-configured paging opportunity.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a group release messagefrom the base station such that the connection is released if the M2Mdevice belongs to a device type indicated by the group release message.10. The method of claim 1, wherein the M2M device only attempts toestablish RRC connection if it has buffered data, and wherein the M2Mdevice does not attempt to establish RRC connection if there is nobuffered data.
 11. A Machine Type Communication (MTC) device,comprising: a radio frequency module (RF module) that receives a pagingmessage transmitted from a base station in a mobile communicationnetwork, wherein the paging message indicates one or multiple groups ofM2M devices; a paging management module that determines whether torespond to the paging message based on a paging matching rule and apaging response policy; and a connection management module thatestablishes a connection with the base station such that the MTC devicereceives a group broadcasting message from the base station, wherein thegroup broadcasting message contains a group Radio Network TemporaryIdentifier (G-RNTI).
 12. The MTC device of claim 11, wherein the RFmodule receives group identification (ID) configuration information, andwherein the M2M device is configured with a group ID.
 13. The MTC deviceof claim 12, wherein the group ID contains a group Serving TemporaryMobile Subscriber Identity (G-S-TMSI) sent from a mobility managemententity (MME).
 14. The MTC device of claim 12, wherein the group IDcontains an M2M application ID controlled by an M2M server.
 15. The MTCdevice of claim 11, wherein the matching rule contains a paging maskthat indicates multiple MTC devices or multiple MTC groups using awildcard.
 16. The MTC device of claim 11, wherein the matching rulecontains a logical operand that applies to the group paging identifierand an M2M group category/attribute.
 17. The MTC device of claim 11,wherein the paging response policy is explicitly contained in the pagingmessage.
 18. The MTC device of claim 11, wherein the paging responsepolicy is implicitly carried via a paging RNTI, a special pagingcode/ID, or a pre-configured paging opportunity.
 19. The MTC device ofclaim 11, wherein the RF module receives a group release message fromthe base station such that the connection is released if the MTC devicebelongs to a device type indicated by the group release message.
 20. TheMTC device of claim 11, wherein the MTC device only attempts toestablish RRC connection if it has buffered data, and wherein the M2Mdevice does not attempt to establish RRC connection if there is nobuffered data.
 21. A method, comprising: monitoring paging occasions bya user equipment (UE) in a mobile communication network, wherein thepaging occasions are predefined for the UE for each paging cycle;receiving a paging message transmitted by a base station, wherein thepaging message contains a continue flag; ignoring the continue flag ifthe UE belong to a first device type; and continue monitoring pagingoccasions if the UE belongs to a second device type until the UEreceives paging if the continue flag is set to TRUE.
 22. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the UE monitors paging occasions once in each pagingcycle in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode if the continue flag is setto FALSE.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the second device type isa Machine-to-Machine device type.
 24. The method of claim 21, whereinthe UE is configured via signaling whether to ignore the continue flagor to continue monitoring paging occasions.